504 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



Leaflets 3, sessile, obovate-oblong, smooth. Drupe 4-seeded ; 

 corymbs axillary, dichotomous. Calyx 4-toothed. Petals 4. 



Calycanthus. 



Calycanthus. (Derived from /caXv^, a calyx, and avOo^, a flower, 

 in reference to the calyx being coloured, and appearing like a 

 corolla). The genus Calycanthus, giving its name to the family 

 Calycanthacecc, is composed of handsome deciduous shrubs, natives 

 of Xorth America, with brachiate branches, and terminal and 

 axillary flowers rising after the leaves. The flowers are exquisitely 

 scented, and the wood, bark, roots and leaves are generally odorous- 

 The leaves are opposite, oval or ovate-lanceolate, entire, generally 

 rough on the surface. The flowers are solitary stalked and made 

 up of a great number of lurid purple, dull red or chocolate coloured 

 narrow sepals and petals. The stamens are very numerous, 

 inserted on the mouth of the calyx-tube, which bears on its inner 

 hollow surface numerous achenes, each with one or two seeds. 



C. Floridits is a native of many parts of the United States, 

 particularly Carolina, and is found on the shady banks of rivulets. 

 It is from 4 to 6 feet in height, with spreading branches. The 

 leaves are ovate, downy beneath as well as the branchlets. Bot. 

 Mag., t. 503. Duham, Arb., i., t. 45. Lam., 111., t. 445, f. 1. 

 Guimp., Abb., t. 4. Mill., Fig., t. 60. 



yar. a, ohlonyics. Leaves oblong. Ait., Hort. Kew, ed. 2, iii., 



p. 282. 

 Va7\ yS, ovatus. Leaves roundish-o\'ate. Ait., loc. cii. 

 The scent of the flowers and leaves is thought to resemble that 

 of a sweet apple or quince. The wood and roots smell strongly of 

 camphor, and the bark is very aromatic, being used as a substitute 

 for cinnamon in the L^nited States, where the plant is called 

 " Carolina Allspice," or " Sweet-scented Shrub," but some of its 

 varieties are almost scentless, and they vary much in the form and 

 pubescence of the leaves as well as in the colour of the flowers. 

 Some of these varieties have, by some authors, been considered as 

 species, such as the following :- — 



C. fertiles. AValter, Flora Carolineana, p. 151. Bot. Eeg., t. 

 404 ; Guimp., Abb., t. 5. Syn. C. ylaums, Willd, Enum., 

 p. 359 ; D.C., Prodr., iii., p. 2 ; Bot. Eep., 539. Xative of 



